'The World is Ready' for an LGBTQ Superhero in Movies, says Marvel Studios Production Chief

"The world is ready" for an openly LGBTQ superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to Marvel Studios Production Chief Victoria Alonso.

Speaking at a red carpet event for Captain Marvel, Alonso echoed previous statements made by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige that an LGBTQ superhero would join the MCU in the foreseeable future.

“I’m so passionate about this I’ve got to tell you. Our entire success is based on people that are incredibly different. Why wouldn’t we? Why would we only want to be recognized by only one type of person?" Alonso toldVariety at the event. "Our audience is global, is diverse, is inclusive. If we don’t do it that way for them, we will fail. If we don’t put pedal to the metal on the diversity and the inclusivity, we will not have continued success. Our determination is to have that for all of the people out there watching our movies.”

This follows Feige's comments in June, 2018, in which he said that openly LGBTQ superheroes would definitely be coming to the MCU - and that some characters already present in the Universe have LGBTQ identities that haven't yet been portrayed onscreen. Thor: Ragnarok actress Tessa Thompson has confirmed that her character Valkyrie is bisexual (as is Thompson herself) though this has not been shown canonically on film.

A recent rumor suggests that the lead of the in-development Eternals film will be openly gay - something Variety asked Alonso to confirm.

“We are going to cast the best Eternals cast that we can and when we’re ready to announce it we promise you we will," Alonso said, stopping short of directly addressing the rumor.

Feige recently stated that the bulk of Marvel's upcoming films won't be confirmed or announced until after the release of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home later this year.